A Kirkus Best Book of 2019!
An Indies Introduce Selection for 2019!
An Indie Next Pick for Summer 2019!
"A delectable treat for food and literary connoisseurs alike." Kirkus
Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
"What a wonderful, intriguing, and magical book. And wow, did it ever
get my tastebuds going! Each time I picked it up, I felt the urge to
head to my kitchen. . . . What I loved most was the smartness of it. It
never once doubted its young readers." Kathi Appelt, Newbery Honor- and
National Book Award-Nominated author
"Midsummer's Mayhem is an enchantment of a novel, bursting with
magic, mystery, and mouth-watering baked goods. Readers who have their
own baking-show dreams will be cheering for Mimi until the very last
page." Kate Messner, award-winning author of Breakout, The Seventh
Wish, and All the Answers
Can Mimi undo the mayhem caused by her baking in this
contemporary-fantasy retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's
Dream?
Eleven-year-old Mimi Mackson comes from a big Indian American family:
Dad's a renowned food writer, Mom's a successful businesswoman, and her
three older siblings all have their own respective accomplishments. It's
easy to feel invisible in such an impressive family, but Mimi's dream of
proving she's not the least-talented member of her family seems possible
when she discovers a contest at the new bakery in town. Plus, it'll
start her on the path to becoming a celebrity chef like her culinary
idol, Puffy Fay.
But when Mimi's dad returns from a business trip, he's mysteriously lost
his highly honed sense of taste. Without his help, Mimi will never be
able to bake something impressive enough to propel her to gastronomic
fame.
Drawn into the woods behind her house by a strangely familiar song, Mimi
meets Vik, a boy who brings her to parts of the forest she's never seen.
Who knew there were banyan trees and wild boars in Massachusetts?
Together they discover exotic ingredients and bake them into delectable
and enchanting treats.
But as her dad acts stranger every day, and her siblings' romantic
entanglements cause trouble in their town, Mimi begins to wonder whether
the ingredients she and Vik found are somehow the cause of it all. She
needs to use her skills, deductive and epicurean, to uncover what's
happening. In the process, she learns that in life, as in baking, not
everything is sweet. . . .
